Lily Before Harry
by bccaw
Summary: Lily Evans and Severus Snape go to Hogwarts. When did they become best friends, and how long will it last? Tidbits of other canon pairings. Lily/Snape, Lily/James, Eileen/Tobias, Andromeda/Ted, Bellatrix/Roldolphus, etc. School years and possibly beyond.
1. A Pureblood's Decision

Prologue – A Pureblood's Decision

**Prologue – A Pureblood's Decision**

"Eileen! Wait!" Tobias Snape ran clumsily down the front steps of the house before the black-haired witch could disapparate. She stopped and slowly turned around. Her dark eyes were impenetrable.

"What do you want, Tobias?" she said softly. She had been waiting for a goodbye all week; hoping, and hating herself for it.

He looked back at her and blinked once.

"You didn't say goodbye."

She raised an eyebrow and stared him down. They stood at eye level, because she was so tall and thin. She drew herself up even higher and lifted her chin.

"Neither did you." Her eyes were cold black pools, threatening to well over. Tobias reached out and grabbed her hand.

"I couldn't," he said, "because it means I'll never see you again."

"Tobias," she pleaded, but it was no use. She jerked her other hand up and wiped her eyes with the back of it. "You know it wouldn't work - you know my family. You know my friends."

His eyes narrowed.

"They aren't really your friends, Eileen! You don't have any except for Tabitha. It's a wonder you even talk to her – she's only a _half-blood_!" he spit out bitterly. "Does your family know about that?"

"Stop it!" she said, "just stop it! You know it's different – marriage is different. You're different. It would mean losing everything. And it's quite a lot to lose, Tobias! My family and my inheritance – I will be completely cut off, and you're not even out of school yet! What about university? Do you realize what you ask of me? How long I will have to wait? I will be alone in a world I don't belong to!"

"That's not true, Eileen, you would still have Tabitha and my aunt and uncle. You could make new life – you could! Maybe I don't have to go to university – I'm not sure that I want to."

This only caused her to shake her head and sigh.

"Oh, Tobias . . ."

He looked down at her hand in his. "Not all wizards are like your family, and you know it. You're not like them. You love me, but you're too scared to admit it." He dropped her hand and took a step back, looking angry. "You're just a spoiled rich _pureblood_ like Aunt Helena has been saying all along. She warned us, you know. She told me I was a fool." He walked away, wounded, but proud. She could see him trembling with anger. Tears poured down her cheeks as she made her decision.

She ran after him.


	2. Chapter 1 The Sorting

**Chapter One – The Sorting**

Severus Snape watched Lily Evans walk to the Gryffindor table and sit down with her chin resting in her hands, looking back at him. He was disappointed – in the past few months they had spent so many wonderful summer days together waiting for their Hogwarts letters and wondering what school would be like. She was nicer than anyone he had ever met and she was the only person he had ever dared to call a friend. Severus felt the corner of his mouth twitch when she flashed him her brilliant smile, and was all too aware that the eyes of every student were fixed on the line where he stood with the other first years waiting to be sorted.

Lily tossed her mane of deep red hair over her shoulder and tried to ignore the boys a few seats away. This proved to be impossible because the one called James immediately began flicking leftover jelly beans from the train at her. She steadfastly ignored him, keeping her eyes on Severus, who was still up front waiting to be sorted. He looked nervous and every now a then his shoulder twitched. She waited for him to meet her eyes and smiled. He did not return the smile, but she wasn't surprised. Severus almost never smiled. He must be disappointed because he had hoped they would be in Slytherin together.

Severus was a strange boy. She could not remember seeing him outside his house until the day he approached her on the playground. At first, she had been scared of him, when he told her things about herself that she didn't want to believe. She had thought he was crazy – surely that was why his parents never let him out of the house. When he started talking about witches and wizards and a school where they would go to learn magic, she thought _she_ was crazy for wanting it to be true. But it was true – Lily was the very first witch in her family. All that she knew about the magical world she had learnt from Severus - until a few weeks ago he was the only wizard she had ever met. She thought he was probably smarter than her – he read all the time and he already knew so much about magic – she was sure he would get better marks.

Lily was glad they were friends. At least she had been prepared for the shocking letter that found its way to her house not so long ago. Her parents had been delighted, once they were convinced themselves. (Professor McGonagall had arrived shortly to help to convince them). Petunia wasn't as impressed, though . . . Lily sighed. She loved her sister, but sometimes she could be horrible. She could not forget the sting of being called a freak shortly before boarding the train.

"Hey, you!" called a voice, "the redhead who's pretending to ignore me!"

Lily turned around and a jelly bean collided with her nose. The two black-haired boys burst out in laughter.

"If you can't remember my name . . ."

"Oh, I remember it," said James quickly, "it's some kind of flower, Daisy isn't it?" He looked over at his friend.

"No, James, you've got it wrong, I believe it's actually Pansy – or maybe it was Begonia" said the other with a grin.

"Come on Sirius, now, you're joking! But I know," he looked at her seriously for a moment, "its Lily."

She made no comment, but turned back around just in time to see Severus step up to be sorted. She crossed her fingers and hoped that he had been wrong about it running in families. . .

_They're bothering her._ Severus saw her whip around and get hit in the face with a jelly bean. She was all alone and they were teasing her. Anger flashed in his eyes as he stepped forward to be sorted.

Professor McGonagall set the hat on his head.

_Ready for a fight, are we? _Said a sharp voice in his head, _Well, now, what to do with you_ . . . _Enough brains for Ravenclaw, but you'd hate it there . . . not Hufflepuff, no . . . a great deal of ambition, I see . . . oh, yes, it'd better be . . ._

"SLYTHERIN!" shouted the hat. Severus was not surprised; his mother had told him he would be. He slunk over to the table under the green banners, trying to ignore the eyes that followed him. When he got there a prefect clapped him on the back, and then ignored him. He contented himself with staring at the back of Lily's head for the rest of the sorting.

"I see your boyfriend didn't make it into Gryffindor, but then, he would probably be devastated if he did." James' voice cut into Lily's thoughts. He turned to his friend for confirmation. "But don't worry; at least _you_ made it into the best house."

"He's not my boyfriend," Lily hissed at them, wishing that James' voice wasn't quite so loud. "But it's really none of your business, is it?"

"It's certainly the best-_looking_ house," said Sirius, smiling devilishly and looking around the table. "Snivellus would ruin the atmosphere, they'd never let him in."

Lily was not about to sit through dinner with these boys.

"_Excuse_ me," she jumped up and moved to the end of the table, sitting down beside a quiet girl with lank brown hair who didn't say more than a faint "hi" all night.

Now, a heavenly aroma filled the air as food appeared on the tables. Lily realized just how hungry she was when her stomach growled loudly – thankfully it was drowned out by the din in the great hall. Lily found the food was delicious and the pumpkin juice was much better than she expected. She stole a few glances at the Slytherin table and saw that Severus was sitting next to the older students, eating quietly and looking around the magnificent hall. She hoped he would make friends in his own house – perhaps it was good that he didn't have to live in a dormitory with James and Sirius. She sighed and looked around her. The quiet girl was picking at her food and eavesdropping on the girls across the table.

"I'm so glad I got into Gryffindor," said one. "Father said I had better, or he might have a talk with Dumbledore! Of course, I don't think he was serious, but still – what if I hadn't?"

"I don't think my parents care, so long as I'm not in Slytherin. That was my uncle's house and the stories he told used to scare me when I was little. I think he probably made some of it up. He always said he should've been in Ravenclaw."

Lily frowned.

"What's so awful about Slytherin?" she asked them. They looked at her in surprise. Even the brown-haired girl looked up, wide-eyed.

"Are you serious?" asked the first girl, her dark eyebrows stretching up into her bushy brown bangs. "What do you think? Everyone says that dark wizards are made in Slytherin."

Lily was skeptical. "That can't be true," she looked at the other girl, "what about your uncle – he's not a dark wizard is he?"

The other girl blinked indignantly from behind her thick glasses. "Of course not – Slytherins aren't all bad, but there are an awful lot of slimy characters in there, and then there's the whole pureblood obsession."

Lily was beginning to get an uneasy feeling in her stomach and wished she hadn't eaten so much.

"Well, if they're so terrible, why are they allowed in at all?" she asked a little sarcastically.

"Oh, like I said, they aren't all bad," the girl reassured her, "in fact, Uncle Dickie is my favorite relative. He's always playing tricks on my Gran – it's great fun to watch. Although, he does have a _dark_ sense of humor . . ." she smiled at her own joke.

Lily flashed a small smile back and decided to drop the subject. She was debating whether or not her stomach could handle dessert when everyone in the middle of the table burst into laughter. She peered down to see Sirius banging his fist on the table, doubled over, and an older boy pounding on James' back, red-faced. She had missed whatever had happened, but she was sure that she would not have found it so funny. A short, mousy first year boy looked at James in awe, with his mouth hanging open and his eyes bugging out. Lily decided against the dessert, because seeing half the table hang on James and Sirius' every word was making her sick.

Severus stole another glance at Lily. He couldn't help feeling smug when she jumped up and moved to the end of the Gryffindor table. He took an enormous bite of potato and savored it. It was the best food he'd ever tasted. He wondered if it was because it had been prepared by magic. His mother was an alright cook when she was in the mood, but she hadn't used magic for years.

"Slow down, there – Severus, is it? - it's not going to disappear anytime soon." The prefect seated beside him was amused.

"Aw, don't scare him _yet_, Lucius," said a girl with black hair and a wild laugh. "He's just hungry – he looks underfed. I bet my owl could carry him to bed!"

Severus felt his cheeks warm, but he knew that they weren't red; he never blushed.

"Your owl has enough trouble keeping itself in the air," replied Lucius, raising an eyebrow, "it's fatter than Goyle."

"Hey! I heard that!" said a very large boy a few seats down, but he only laughed and shoved a cake into his mouth.

Severus smirked into his plate. They started talking about the Quidditch team and forgot about him. He tried not to stuff his face, and took to watching Lily between mouthfuls. She was talking to a girl wearing ridiculously thick glasses, so that her eyes were magnified three times their normal size. The other one had brown hair that settled like a nest on her head. He immediately forgot about them and watched the light shine on Lily's fiery hair when she turned suddenly and looked down the table at the source of the loud laughter.

_Of course_, he thought, _they're already popular._ His consolation was that Lily turned back to her food while the other Gryffindors laughed with the two black-haired boys in the middle of the table.

"I see your cousin is in Gryffindor, Bellatrix" said Lucius, nodding at the table across the room, "your Aunt will be thrilled."

The black-haired girl laughed loudly. "Oh, she'll be furious, I'm sure. He's the first in the family who's not in Slytherin. But I'm not _surprised_," she sniffed, "Little Sirius thinks he's better than the rest of us."

Severus tried to appear uninterested in their conversation, but his eyes automatically flicked over to the Gryffindor table when he realized who they were talking about. He smirked. At least someone saw them for what they were. It was too bad that Lily would have to live with them. He wished again that she were sitting next to him at the Slytherin table instead of across the room with her back turned.

Lily sat listening to the conversations around her, but did not hear any of them. She was tired and felt a knot of homesickness in her stomach. The school seemed amazing and she couldn't wait to get to class and learn spells, but at the moment she only wanted to curl up in her own familiar bed and drift off. Her eyelids were heavy and her stomach was full. She yawned and shook herself awake. The girls across from her were arguing over which spells they were likely to learn first. Lily did not know any of them, and was disappointed, because Severus had taught her a few over the summer.

"Well, I think we'll learn levitation right away – it's one of the simplest charms, and very practical."

"Yes, I'm sure you're right, but I'm really looking forward to transfiguration - my sister told me that Professor McGonagall is an Animagus!"

Lily decided to join to conversation in order to stay awake, "Have you ever tried to transfigure anything?" she asked.

The girl's eyebrows disappeared into her bangs again. "Of course not! Underage magic is not allowed outside of school. Mother would never let me near her wand anyway, and she always keeps it with her."

"What happens if you're caught?" asked Lily, thinking of Severus.

"Oh, it depends on what you've done," said the girl. "Most likely they'd send a warning to your parents."

"Oh" said Lily. She was remembering the time Severus had given her his mother's worn wand and, reading from a book, instructed her on how to make pink bubbles come from the end. It was one of the rare occasions she had seen him smile – both at her delight when the spell worked and when she aimed the steam of bubbles at his face. Surely she couldn't get in trouble for that?

Suddenly, she realized the hall had grown quiet, and the Headmaster was addressing them. He wore dark blue robes with silver embroidery and a tall wizard's hat. She didn't remember any of his opening speech, but it had been a very short welcome. He seemed to be in a very good mood, his eyes sparkling as he surveyed the students.

"And now that you are all full of dinner and sweets, it's time to send you off to bed; but first, a few things to keep in mind this year. As you know, there is to be no wandering the corridors – or the grounds – at night. I trust you all value your sleep too much to wander about, nevertheless, Mr. Filch and the rest of the staff will be patrolling the castle at night, so you have been warned. Also, please do not charm, hex, curse, or trip your classmates in the halls, as there may be unpleasant consequences for everyone, and finally – the Forbidden Forest is indeed _forbidden_, not to mention extremely dangerous and, naturally, off limits to students."

Dumbledore paused and scanned the faces seriously before smiling and motioning to the doors behind them.

"I believe that is all for tonight – and now, I suggest that the first years follow their prefects to the dormitories and you all get some rest before classes tomorrow. You are dismissed!"

Lily wanted to take the headmaster's advice, but instead she spent a sleepless night staring at the patch of moonlight on the floor, her mind buzzing. She wished she could have talked to Severus before they left, but apparently the houses didn't mix in the Great Hall. She had a lot to learn. Lying in bed, she listened to the hushed conversations around her. The other first years whispered about classes and proudly compared wands.

She remembered buying her wand. Her parents had shifted uncomfortably as they watched Mr. Ollivander hand her wand after wand until at last a puff of golden steam and stars erupted from the end of one.

* * *

"Willow, unicorn hair," said Ollivander, "ten inches and a quarter inches, nice and swishy. Good for charmwork."

Lily held the wand proudly, her eyes dancing with excitement. Her parents had just looked relieved to check another item off the school's list. They were doing remarkably well that day, considering that they were two Muggles in charge of finding the proper school things for a witch and a wizard in Diagon Alley on one of the busiest days of the year. Mr. Ollivander then turned to Severus.

"And what about you, then?"

Severus looked at him very seriously, without blinking.

"Well, are you here for a wand, or not?" said Ollivander impatiently.

"Yes, sir." He said it quietly, still unblinking. Mr. Ollivander looked a bit unnerved.

"Yes, let me see . . ." and he began scanning the shelves, muttering to himself again. He turned back around abruptly, looking thoughtful.

"What's your name, boy?"

"Severus Snape."

Mr. Ollivander studied him. "Snape . . . I do remember a Snape," he said. "Tabitha Snape, cherry and unicorn hair, ten inches. A relation of yours?" he asked.

"My – aunt, sir, my mother is Eileen Prince." Severus looked very uncomfortable, and Lily knew he was afraid that Ollivander's questions might become too personal.

"Ah, yes, Eileen Prince, ash and phoenix feather, ten and three-quarter inches. Curious that your father did not get his wand here, I suppose they met in school?" Mr. Ollivander looked irritated by the idea of a Hogwart's student getting their wand elsewhere.

Severus said nothing about his father, though Ollivander was obviously waiting for an explanation. The old man turned back around, still muttering, picking up boxes as he moved through the shelves. He repeated the same fast-paced trial that he had with Lily, hardly allowing Severus a second with each wand before snatching it away, until finally,

"Oh, nice!" said Lily, as a shower of red sparks burst from the tip of one.

Mr. Ollivander took the wand and looked it over.

"Interesting," he said, "whitewood, eleven inches, phoenix feather." He handed it back to Severus, who took it carefully and stared at it.

"Curious choice," said Ollivander, "whitewood wands don't take many owners." Severus only looked at him as before. He continued,

"Often overlooked in favor of more exotic varieties, though it's a very – _light_ – wood, it's often been associated with dark power." He raised one eyebrow at Severus appraisingly, "but also, with the restraint of that power. People have always been superstitious about it. Quite ambiguous. Quite curious. I suppose you don't know what your father's wand was?"

"No, sir," said Severus. Ollivander looked annoyed.

"Well, then, let's settle up and you can be off," he said and another family walked in the door.

After Severus had carefully counted some wizard gold out of his mother's tattered bag, they all squeezed out the door of the crowded shop and headed for the bookstore. Lily and Severus hung back as her parents debated in which direction they had seen it.

"I can't believe I just bought my own magic wand!" said Lily, "aren't you excited?"

He smirked, "You'd think you had never seen one before," he said.

"Oh, but this one is _mine_ – it _chose_ me," she said happily. I was so scared that he'd never find one for me and was going to tell me that I couldn't go to Hogwarts after all. Let me see yours," she said, "he made such a fuss over it, it must be really special."

Severus took it out of the long box under his arm and held it up.

"It's pretty!" she said.

"Pretty!" he scoffed. "You're such a girl."

"Oh, fine, it's handsome, then, or whatever you like."

He put it back carefully, his tiny satisfied smile showing that he thought so too.

"I'm glad you came with us, Severus, we're having such a nice time, now that my poor parents are getting used to seeing everyone walk around in robes."

It hadn't taken much to convince her parents to take Severus with them. From the little they had seen of him, they were sure his parents were neglectful and encouraged Lily to befriend him. This irked Petunia, who hated Severus, and who had thrown a fit when she heard they were taking him to Diagon Alley, and said that if _he_ went, she would stay home. Their parents were all too eager to take her up on this offer, as they did not relish the idea of spending an entire day sorting out fights between their children. So, they told her she would be spending the day at a friend's house, which they felt was a just punishment for the week she spent stomping around the house, slamming doors and 'accidentally' breaking Lily's favorite snow globe.

"You didn't tell me that you had an aunt who went to Hogwarts," said Lily, suddenly remembering what Severus had told Mr. Ollivander.

"I don't," said Severus, "she was my father's cousin, and she died when I was five."

"Oh."

Before Lily could ask him anything else, he pointed across the street.

"Look."

Her parents had found the bookshop and were now motioning to them impatiently.

"Oh, they've found it! Come on!" Lily grabbed his sleeve and skipped across the street.

"Hogwarts is going to be wonderful, Severus, I can't wait!" she said as he stumbled after her.

* * *

Lily didn't feel wonderful, though. She felt lonely – again she remembered Petunia's harsh parting words – telling her that it was good that she and Severus were going away to be separated from the normal people. Lily was not ashamed of being a witch – but she didn't feel like she belonged in this world, without her family and friends.

A hot tear wet her cheek. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day. She would try to make friends and be sure to stay away from James and Sirius. She wasn't upset by their antics for her own sake – she just hated that they chose Severus to pick on – they were already calling him by that awful name and classes had not yet begun. She lay fuming at the memory of James and Sirius mocking Severus on the train for what seemed like an eternity, but finally fell into a restless sleep and dreamed that she and Severus were sitting underneath their favorite tree at the playground, talking about wands and broomsticks and magic spells.


	3. Chapter 2 The First Day

**Chapter Two – The First Day **

The next morning, Lily found herself following three first year girls to breakfast, but felt too nervous to add anything to the conversation.

"I'm so glad we're both in Gryffindor, Liz" said a tiny blond who resembled a pixie with a turned up nose and rosy cheeks. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Yeah, not since mum and dad decided to move across the country!" said the other, a thin girl with frizzy black ringlets trying to escape from her ponytail. "I didn't even recognize you until they called your name for the sorting. My brother nearly fell off his chair – he was as surprised as I was. He'll be excited when Conrad gets here next year. Who's your friend?"

"Blair Higgins," said a third girl. She was tall, with a sweet, freckled face and pin straight brown hair swinging as she walked. The girl with ringlets introduced herself as Eliza Tibbit.

"Hilda Hodgeworth" said the blond. "I think our parents were in the same year at Hogwarts – you look a bit like your father. And what's your name?"

After a few seconds Lily realized they were talking to her.

"Oh -sorry! I'm Lily Evans."

"Where are you from? I've never heard that surname before."

"Oh, well – my parents - aren't wizards." She didn't want to use that word. Even though Severus had assured her it wasn't bad, she still thought it sounded ridiculous. "It was quite a surprise for them."

"Hey, that's great! My aunt is Muggle-born," said Hilda. "And she has the funniest stories! You can eat with us, if you want – and by the way, your hair is amazing! So long and lovely - I always wanted red hair, but my mother would never charm it for me. Maybe I'll be able to do it myself soon enough," she finished with a smile.

Lily smiled back.

"Thanks. It's really stubborn, though. If I didn't keep it long it would stick out in every direction!"

The three girls fell into excited chatter. Lily didn't have much to say, but was glad to have friendly company. Their schedules arrived at breakfast. Lily was pleased to see that they had some classes with the Slytherins. The first class of the day was Charms, with Hufflepuff. Then it was Transfiguration, again with Hufflepuff and finally, Potions with Slytherin. She smiled at the thought of Potions – the look on her parents' faces when they found out they had to buy their daughter a standard black cauldron had been priceless. Thinking about them lightened her mood and she managed to eat a rather large breakfast. She couldn't find Severus in the crowded room, but waved to him in the corridor on her way to Charms. His shoulder twitched and he gave her an embarrassed half-smile in return. She grinned broadly back and followed the others to Professor Flitwick's classroom. Excited and nervous about her first magical class, she floated into the classroom and settled into a seat beside Hilda.

Tiny Professor Flitwick cleared his throat and began to call the role. Lily looked around the room, putting names with the faces she had seen at dinner. "Celia Snugg" was the quiet girl that had sat beside her. "Cora Whitfield" was the owner of the thick glasses, and "Harriet White" had pulled back her hair so that it didn't look quite as bushy today. Lily pulled out a quill and prepared to take copious notes. She didn't want to miss a thing. First, Flitwick impressed them by charming an assortment of origami animals to gallop, flap, and swim around the room above their heads, and then settle down onto their desks. They listened to his lecture, and near the end were allowed to try a levitating spell. Lily saw the girl from dinner smile knowingly at her bushy-haired friend.

To her amazement, the charm worked – well, like a charm – for her. She sent her paper swan up a few feet in the air and gently lowered it back down.

"Wingardium leviosa! Wingardium leviosa! WINGARDIUM LEV_-"_

"Mr. Pettigrew - _please_! Shouting will not make the spell more effective!" Flitwick shook his head with a chuckle as he passed by. "Swish and flick – it's all in the wrist!" He stopped at Lily's desk.

"Miss Evans, I believe?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Wonderful control, you've got natural talent!"

Lily blushed as half the class turned to look at her.

"Thank you," she said shyly. Flitwick moved on, smiling at the attempts being made around him. "Don't worry, it'll come, good job, Mr. Potter, but _please_ keep your frog away from Mr. Black's head."

The girls next to them were giggling loudly as they watched Sirius snatch at the paper frog bouncing on top of his head. James immediately stopped and grinned at the class.

"Yes, sir"

Lily was annoyed when he managed to catch her eye and busied herself with packing up her books. Hilda was still in her seat, talking to a Hufflepuff girl. Lily hurried out the door and caught up with the girls from dinner the night before.

"You were right about the spell," she said to them, "what did you think?"

"Not so hard, once you get the wand movement down," said Cora, "_you_ did very well – have you tried it before?"

"Oh, no!" Lily said, realizing that Cora was referring to their conversation last night. "That was the first time I ever used my wand!" It was true – she had never used _her _wand to perform a spell. Cora and Harriet didn't look convinced. Cora smiled,

"If you say so . . ." she said knowingly. Lily didn't try to convince her, as she sensed that the girls might be a jealous of her immediate success. Harriet had looked crushed when Professor Flitwick told her that her "swish" was too stiff.

They looked for Professor McGonagall's classroom together, arriving early because they walked so fast. Cora and Harriet sat down in the front row and looked around the classroom expectantly, but Professor McGonagall was nowhere in sight. A tabby cat sat primly on the desk at the front of the room, watching them. After a few moments, it jumped to the floor, walked straight down the middle aisle and out the door. Lily sat down at a desk behind Cora and Harriet, annoyed that it was so close to the front, but she did not want to offend them by sitting farther away in the empty classroom. Soon, the other students trickled in, filling the classroom with chatter and laughing. She didn't notice James and Sirius sit down behind her. Suddenly, she heard a now-familiar voice say,

"Sit up there with Evans, Peter, she's got an empty seat."

The short, mousy boy who seemed to be James' shadow slid into the seat beside her.

"H-hi," he said when she looked at him, "a-alright if I sit here?"

"Of course it is, right Evans?" said James. She turned and leveled a look at him. He was grinning. Did he just call her "Evans"?

"Sure," she said to Peter, but was not thrilled. She should have stayed after charms and waited on Hilda, who was only just now walking in with Liz and Blair.

Lily was wondering which class Severus was in when her thoughts were interrupted by Professor McGonagall closing the classroom door firmly and walking curtly to the front of the room.

"Good morning Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, I am glad to see that you slept well and are so full of energy this morning." The classroom quieted under her stern gaze. She began by quickly calling role and jumped right into the lesson in no-nonsense fashion. Lily was intrigued by the lecture – she could not wait to try turning ordinary objects into animals, like the inkwell that McGonagall turned into a raven and back. Lily discreetly flipped through her textbook whenever McGonagall wasn't looking (which wasn't often, as she kept shooting stern looks at James and Sirius whenever they whispered to one another). She wanted to find out what an Animagus was, after hearing Harriet mention it last night. Reading out of the corner of her eye, she found it. How incredible! She wondered what sort of animal McGonagall might be. Lily started paying attention to the lecture again, and took careful notes. However, they didn't get to try any magic as in Charms, and McGonagall gave them much more reading than Professor Flitwick had.

Lily joined Hilda again on the way out of Transfiguration. They had a very good lunch, during which Hilda, Liz, and Blair asked Lily question after question about the Muggle world. Lily was now resigned to using the word, because it would not do to call it the "normal" world around her new magical friends. She learned about Floo powder, which sounded like a terrible way to travel, but the others felt it must be far superior to buses and the underground, and could not imagine flying through the air for hours at a time in a machine that was not held up by magic. She asked a few questions of her own, but hardly knew what to ask. She wanted to know everything. Severus might have taught her spells out of books, but even he didn't know what it was like to live in the magical world, since his father was a Muggle and his mother was . . . disturbed. Lily had never found out what was wrong with Severus' mother. He never talked about it.

Severus woke up before anyone else. He lay in his bed waiting for the other first year boys to get up. There were four of them – Rastaban Lestrange, Charles Avery, Reginald Crabbe, and himself. He hadn't said much to any of them. Rastaban had an older brother, Roldolphus, in the third year, and they both knew Avery already. Crabbe was a pudgy, red-faced boy who didn't talk much, or think much for that matter. He grunted replies more than he formed sentences. Avery was blond and broad-shouldered with thick eyebrows.

Rastaban, Roldolphus, and Avery had stayed up late in the common room with some other third years, swapping stories about hexes they had used and arguing over who had gotten the worst detentions. Severus had listened from a chair in a dark corner. Since he had never hexed anyone, he didn't have any stories to tell. He didn't think the time he'd blown up a spider with his mother's wand would impress anyone. It certainly hadn't impressed Lily.

* * *

He had been hiding in the bushes with the wand and one of his mother's old books, reading. The book had strange, sometimes frightening pictures in it and tons of dark spells. He was at once disgusted and interested in the detailed explanations of their origins, development, and the possible defenses against them. He was reading about a particularly nasty version of an engorgement spell when a fat black spider fell onto the open book. He moved to sweep it off the page and had an idea. He pointed his mother's wand at the spider, whispered the spell exactly as it was described, and waited. He thought maybe the spider looked a little fatter. Shifting back on his heels, he took a deep breath, stared the spider down, and tried again. Nothing happened. Sighing, he tossed the wand aside. Then, irritably, he picked it up again. He jabbed it toward the spider and said the spell forcefully. To his utter surprise, it exploded at once. There were spider guts on his shirt. He sat stunned and fascinated at what had just happened and poured over the book again, trying to figure out why it had worked the third time.

When he had recounted the story to Lily, though, she had not been so fascinated.

"Why would anyone need a spell to blow up spiders?" she asked, "couldn't you just squash them?"

"Oh, it works on more than just spiders," said Severus, "It could be anything, really, except I think for this spell it has to be something that's alive."

She frowned, "you mean it can be used on other animals?"

"Sure," he said.

Her eyes widened.

"And . . . people?" Her eyes were now comically wide, but there was nothing funny about the look on her face.

"Well . . . yeah," he said carefully, "I guess it _could_ be." He could see that she was upset and thought he had better not tell her that the spell had been invented to kill people during one of the Giant Wars. He would make sure she never saw that book.

"Of course, I don't really know," he said quickly, "but it's good for killing spiders."

Lily didn't seem to hear him. She was watching mothers push their toddlers on the swings and frowning.

* * *

Severus had been woken from his memories by Roldolphus Lestrange asking him what his name was.

"Severus Snape," he said, feeling the eyes of everyone on him.

"Alright, Severus, do you know any good hexes yet?" said Roldolphus, but he didn't give him time to answer. Looking around the common room, he said, "If you want to learn a few good ones, come here at nine on Thursdays. Lots of upper-years come and teach us some really good stuff, things you definitely won't learn in class. Bellatrix Black and Marcus Bulstrode lead it."

"Ooh, _Bella _leads it!" said Rastaban, "I know you'll be there every Thursday then." The other third year boys laughed. Roldolphus turned red and looked around as if expecting the girl to walk into the room any minute.

"He fancies her," said Rastaban unnecessarily.

"She's a seventh year!" exclaimed another boy, and Roldolphus punched his younger brother.

Severus remembered the girl who had joked with Lucius and thought that Roldolphus must be out of his mind if he thought he had a chance with her. She was obviously popular, and she was pretty in a dangerous sort of way. Her dark eyes had glittered beneath their lazy lids and her blood-red lips had been curved into a smirk. Roldolphus was a thin, black-haired boy with an upturned nose and beady eyes. His brother looked just like him.

"Well, if you've got Bellatrix, I suppose Rastaban will have to settle for Narcissa - if he can steal her from Malfoy!"

Severus had grown tired of the conversation, and decided to go to bed. Nobody said anything to him when he got up and made his way to the dormitory.

Now, he heard Crabbe's snores stop and the large lump under the covers moved. Severus sat up and began getting dressed. He pulled on his ratty socks quickly, wishing that his mother had thought to buy him some new ones. He should have stolen some of Tobias' before he left. He smirked, thinking of how angry his father would have been to find them gone, and not able to do anything about it until Severus returned many months later. Severus called his father by his first name mostly out of habit, but also out of spite. It was one of the only ways he could show his dislike of the man. His mother had rarely called him "dad" or "your father" because quite often she spoke to Severus as though he were not her child. "Tobias is in quite a mood, today," she would say, or, "Tobias doesn't talk to me anymore, Severus", and so, he had learned to call his father "Tobias" and refused to call him anything else.

Severus finished dressing and sat down on his bed. Crabbe was stumbling around half asleep and tripping on his robes while he tried to get ready, and he woke the others up when he stubbed his toe on his trunk and swore loudly. Rastaban sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Hey, wake up!" he threw a rolled-up pair of socks at Avery, who pulled the covers over his head.

"Hey _Chuckie_ – you're gonna miss breakfast," said Rastaban.

Avery rolled over and glared at him.

"Don't call me that," he said menacingly, but rolled out of bed. They beat most of their house to the Great Hall, where Severus enjoyed a delicious breakfast. The got their schedules and Severus saw that he would have Potions with Lily. They had Transfiguration and Charms with Ravenclaw, and finally, Potions with Gryffindor. He looked for Lily at the Gryffindor table, but a very large Hufflepuff boy was in the way. In the hall, he tried not to smile when she waved excitedly to him on the way to class. She looked like she might explode from anticipation, and probably didn't realize that she was bouncing when she walked. Luckily, nobody noticed their interaction – the last thing he needed was to be seen waving and grinning at a Gryffindor _girl_. What if they found out she was his best friend? The teasing would be merciless.

Before Hogwarts, he didn't care what people thought – and he especially didn't care what Muggles thought – about the strangely-dressed boy whose only friend was a tiny, fiery-haired girl with startling green eyes. But he didn't want to be that boy anymore. He wanted to be a great wizard; he wanted to be the best in his class. He wanted to be respected, and he didn't think letting all of Slytherin house know that Lily Evans was his only friend was the best way to begin.

_Soon, I'll have new friends, _he thought, _and they don't need to know about her. _It was bad enough that James Potter and Sirius Black knew. He would have to be careful. Maybe he could tell Lily not to be so . . . obvious . . . whenever she saw him.

Severus paid strict attention to Professor McGonagall in Transfiguration, which was difficult because Avery and Rastaban were behind him.

"_Mr. Avery,_" McGonagall finally said, "what can you possibly have to say to Mr. Lestrange that cannot wait until the end of class? Next time, I will deduct points." Her eyebrows were raised in warning.

Severus was not worried about the reading she assigned – he was a very fast reader. He almost smiled when the other students groaned and copied down the assignment.

Charms was more interesting. Severus was able to levitate his alligator on the third try, but accidentally sent it shooting toward the ceiling when Crabbe hit his arm with a particularly violent 'swish'. He lost control of it, and it fell on a Ravenclaw girl's head and got stuck in her curly hair. Her friend tapped her on the shoulder.

"Regina, there's something in your hair," she said loudly, handing her the paper alligator, "that boy over there dropped it."

Regina gave Severus a disdainful look over her shoulder and sent the alligator whizzing back to him. It smacked into his chest and fell in his lap. She turned and whispered something into the other girl's ear which caused her to laugh.

Severus felt his cheeks warm. He was grateful, once again, that he never blushed.

The Ravenclaws were doing much better than the Slytherins – only Severus and Agatha Davis were having any success, while four Ravenclaw students had earned Flitwick's praises. Avery and Rastaban were throwing their paper animals back and forth. Crabbe had long given up and was trying to balance his wand on one finger.

Soon, Flitwick dismissed them and after lunch Severus was looking forward to Potions. He wanted to talk to Lily, and he almost didn't care if the others thought he _fancied_ her, or that he'd rather hang out with a girl. They got their cauldrons and potions books from the dormitory, which was near the potions room in the dungeons. It was a short, loud walk to the classroom, because Avery kept banging his cauldron on every step and bump on the way. Severus rolled his eyes and walked ahead of them with Crabbe, who said nothing. Yes, he decided, he couldn't wait to see Lily – she was the only person worth talking to, even if she was a girl.


	4. Chapter 3 Potions

Severus and the others finally made it to the Potions room. Severus quickly looked around, trying to decide on the best seat to take. He chose one in the middle of the class. Crabbe sat down heavily beside him.

_Perfect,_ he thought, annoyed.

Gryffindors and Slytherins trickled in. Severus was still trying to think of a way to sit with Lily without attracting too much attention. The classroom was filling up, but she wasn't there yet. Suddenly, Crabbe jumped up from his seat.

"Where are _you_ going?" Severus asked.

"Forgot my book," said Crabbe, and hurried out of the room, pushing past Lily and a group of chattering girls. She saw Severus looking at them and smiled briefly. The others took seats near the back, but Lily walked up and said something to two other girls across the aisle from Severus. Then, she slid into the seat beside him.

"Hey!" She was grinning, "Is someone sitting here?"

"No," he said, sliding Crabbe's cauldron under the desk in front of them with his foot.

"Good," said Lily, "I've been dying to talk to you all day! What did you think of classes?"

"Not too bad," he said, "but McGonagall will be tough."

"I know, but it's all so interesting!" said Lily, "do you know what an Animagus is?"

Severus was about to reply that he _did_ know, when Professor Slughorn entered the classroom through a door at the front. He fumbled with the latch on the door and cleared his throat loudly.

"Welcome to Potions!" said the portly man, "First years! Well, let's see who we've got. . ."

He paused as Crabbe finally returned and fell into a seat, looking confused. Severus pretended to be very interested in the cover of his Potions book.

"Yes, now that we're all here . . ." Slughorn began calling names, pausing often to comment. After he called Avery, he said,

"Another Black! I'm surprised you're not in my house – breaking with tradition, are we?" Sirius glared at him. He chuckled, "maybe you won't be as much trouble as your cousins, then. Bellatrix Black has melted more cauldrons . . ." Slughorn moved on to Crabbe, and Agatha Davis, a Slytherin girl. Then it was Lily's turn. Slughorn called a few more names (Mona Flint, Blair Higgins) without comment.

"Ah, yes, Miss Hodgeworth, I thought I might be seeing you this year! Saw your father when I was at the Ministry a few weeks ago, and had a nice chat."

Hilda smiled blandly.

It seemed that Slughorn knew Rastaban's family as well, but Remus Lupin from Gryffindor was passed over, as well as Francis Montague from Slytherin and Peter Pettigrew. However, James Potter was not so lucky.

"Mr. Potter! I haven't seen your mother and father in years, how are they?"

"Fine, sir."

"I worked with your father for a while, you know," continued Slughorn, "brilliant man! Really knew his potions, I know what to expect from you, then!"

James merely looked bored.

After Lorna Radcliffe, he called Severus' name, and, thankfully, had nothing to say about his parents. There were four Gryffindor girls left, but all Slughorn said was,

"Well, there are a lot of Gryffindor girls this year – seven girls! You boys better keep up; I find girls are often better at Potions. In fact, I do believe a young lady has always gotten the top grade in my class."

Lily nudged Severus.

"I'll beat you at one subject, then," she whispered.

"You can try," he whispered back.

Lily made a face at him, but he didn't see it, because he was staring intently ahead. Even though they teased one another about who would do better, Lily knew he was very determined, and that there was a real challenge in his voice. What Severus didn't know, was that she was just as determined to do well. She wanted to tell him how easy she had found charms and see what he had to say.

Professor Slughorn began to tell them about a laughing potion, and Lily pulled out her quill. Severus was already scratching away at his parchment. Slughorn demonstrated the correct order to add the ingredients in his large cauldron at the front of the class. Soon, a pale blue liquid bubbled in it and sparkling clouds of steam hovered in the air. Slughorn stood at an arm's distance as he stirred.

"You've got to be careful of the steam," he said, "because it's strong enough to cause – teehee – small fits of giggles – hee – er, ahem." He stepped back. "A lovely, simple potion," he said, "it can be powdered as well. It's popular at parties and, of course, as a practical joke. It's quite potent though, so a very little will go a long way. Can't tell you how many people wind up in St. Mungo's every year with broken ribs from an overdose of laughing potion."

Lily wondered if it was possible to die from laughing. _Only in the magical world_, she thought. Before class ended, Slughorn assigned a reading and told them that next class they would have to make their partners laugh with just a tablespoon of correctly-brewed potion. Severus did not look happy at the thought. Had she ever heard him laugh? Lily could not remember hearing more than a snicker from him before.

Severus was not impressed with potions. He didn't want to make a laughing potion, and he definitely didn't want to take one in class. He noticed Lily studying him.

"What?" he asked.

She smiled.

"I'm going to make the best laughing potion in class," she said, "and you're going to have to take it!"

With that, she stood up and followed the other Gryffindors out of the classroom.


	5. Chapter 4: Finally Friday

**Chapter Four – Finally Friday**

Lily sat on her bed at the end of a long day. She was engrossed in a book; the transfiguration textbook, to be exact. She was reading chapter 10, the section about human transformations.

Liz flopped down on the bed.

"Are you still doing homework?" she asked reprovingly.

Lily rolled onto her side to look at her.

"Nope, just reading for fun," she answered, and yawned.

"You're reading a textbook for fun?"

"Yep."

Lily smiled to herself. She could hear Hilda telling Blair about her older sister's boyfriend, who apparently was very handsome and very rich. She much preferred the book to _that_ conversation. Blair was nodding occasionally and picking at a thread on her sleeve, while Celia Snugg listened with rapt attention. Cora and Harriet were still in the common room with their heads together, studying. Liz sighed.

"I'm going to sleep," she said, "I'm so glad tomorrow's Friday."

Lily agreed. Even though her classes were exciting and magic was fun to learn, Lily was tired after a full week. Tomorrow, they had a free afternoon and Astronomy that night. Lily wondered what she would do with her free time. Maybe find a nice secluded spot to finally sit and talk with Severus about Hogwarts. He didn't like to talk around other people, even when they sat together in Potions he barely said a word.

They had Herbology together as well, but had spent the entire lesson tromping through the greenhouse in single-file as Professor Sprout pointed out different species of magical plants, smacking wandering vines out of the way as she went. There hadn't been any time for talking.

Lily slid under her covers and immediately relaxed in the comfortable bed. She felt a little guilty about liking it better than her bed at home. She wondered what Petunia was doing at the moment. She was probably asleep; Lily's parents made them keep a strict bedtime. Petunia would be so jealous if she knew they could stay up as long as they liked at Hogwarts, and that they had their own common room with squashy armchairs and a crackling fire.

_Poor Tuney,_ thought Lily as she drifted off. _I wish she could do magic too. _

Lily decided to write a letter to Petunia tomorrow.

* * *

Severus lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. The others were in the common room, making a racket. He was reciting the list of dangerous potions ingredients from the back of the textbook in his head. He knew he should go out with the others. He knew they avoided him. He knew they gave him dirty looks when he sat with Lily in Potions. He didn't care. Crabbe was an idiot – he couldn't string more than five words together at a time. Rastaban only cared about impressing his brother's friends, and Avery was just his body-guard.

_Aconite, acromantula venom, ashwinder eggs, belladonna . . ._

He heard a loud crash, which sounded as though someone had thrown a chair at the wall.

_. . . doxy venom, dragon's blood, duckweed . . ._

Another loud crash. Where were the prefects?

_. . . Ear of Eden, Erumpent fluid, graphorn horn, hippogriff hide . . ._

It was suddenly very quiet. Severus thought he heard Lucius Malfoy's voice.

_. . . jobberknoll tounge, lovage, manticore venom, mandrake juice . . ._

There was a shout and then loud laughter from the common room, followed by the general din of everyone talking at once.

. . ._ unicorn blood, unicorn horn, wormwood . . ._

Then, Severus remembered. It was Thursday night, and the older students were teaching everyone spells. He started to get up, but at that moment the door burst open. Severus jumped up in surprise.

"Snape, you missed all the fun!" said Rastaban, "Bellatrix and Malfoy dueled – you should've seen Roldophus' face, it was disgusting!"

Snape stood awkwardly by his bed, not knowing what sort of reply was expected to this announcement.

"Bellatrix is crazy, though," Rastaban continued, "Lucius didn't stand a chance - he tried hiding behind a chair at the end!"

Avery came in, laughing, followed by the lumbering Crabbe.

"What've you been doing all this time?" he asked Severus loudly.

Severus stiffened. _None of your business,_ he thought.

"Studying," he said.

They all stared at him for a minute. Finally, Rastaban stopped frowning and spoke.

"You sure you're in the right House?" He laughed, "Next week, you're coming out there with us – you'll ruin our reputation if you don't know any good hexes."

"I _know_ hexes!" Severus said defensively. _Just because I haven't told you about it_ . . .

"Fine," said Rastaban, "but you're coming anyway."

Severus didn't like Rastaban telling him what to do, but he _did _want to see what the older kids were doing. He didn't reply, but gave Rastaban a hard look before sitting down to pull off his shoes. If Rastaban Lestrange thought Severus was going to follow him around like Crabbe and Avery, he was wrong.

* * *

Friday came, bright and sunny. Lily hummed to herself on the way to Charms, which was fast becoming her favorite subject. Potions was a close second, though Professor Slughorn often got off-topic when he remembered a particular story involving the relatives of one of his students. Luckily, Lily had nothing to worry about, and neither did Severus. Slughorn didn't know anything about them, except that they were very efficient Potions partners. However, he often stopped near James and Sirius and attempted to engage them in conversation while they worked. Lily didn't know if it was intentional, but it served to keep the two of them in check and thankfully, quiet.

She had been disappointed when Slughorn announced that they would not be making a laughing potion until the following week, due to the fact that his store of pressed periwinkle was low. Severus had looked relieved.

They started class by practicing levitation charms again. Then, Flitwick taught them to produce multi-colored bubbles with a quick flick of the wrist. Again, Lily had no trouble with the charm, especially as she had tried it before. She thought of Severus as she shot neon orange bubbles toward Hilda and Liz. They squealed and batted at them with their hands.

The Gryffindor girls had quickly split into pairs. Hilda and Liz were inseparable childhood friends, Cora and Harriet were constant study partners, and Blair and Celia could often be found playing a game of gobstones or chess. Lily got along with everyone, but still wished they had an even eight in their house.

Lily found Transfiguration more difficult than Charms. Today McGonagall set a single blade of grass in front of each student and told them they would be attempting to change it into a needle. Lily tried unsuccessfully for a while before taking a break and sneaking looks at her classmates' blades. They all still looked very green and grass-like. Lily felt a little better about her own failure.

McGonagall was pacing through the room without comment, and Lily renewed her efforts as the Professor walked by. No matter how hard she concentrated, the blade did not look any different. Lily was frustrated now, and not in the mood to hear what McGonagall said next.

"Very good, Mr. Potter! Ten points to Gryffindor for succeeding on the first day." McGonagall surveyed the class.

"That goes for everyone. I want to see some real effort for the rest of class."

Suddenly, every head in the classroom was bent over its desk and frantic incantations filled the air with murmuring. However, nobody else earned ten points for their house that day. Lily found herself in a bad mood when class was over. She had thought Transfiguration was so interesting - it was too bad she was no good at it. Until then, her success in Charms and her attentiveness in Potions had earned her praise from her Professors, but McGonagall hadn't said one word to her since classes started. Lily knew it was stupid to be upset, because nobody else had been able to do it either. She just wanted to do well and prove that she belonged at Hogwarts. Severus always said she had 'loads of magic' but Lily wanted to hear it from someone else too. She wondered how Severus had done in Transfiguration, and whether or not he had earned ten points for Slytherin. She wouldn't have to wait long to find out, because after lunch the first years had a free afternoon.

Lily ate lunch happily with her new friends, who were for the most part very outgoing – Celia was the only quiet one. She didn't count Cora and Harriet, because they hardly spent any time with their housemates. They liked to sit beside one another at lunch and speak in hushed tones. Lily found herself comparing everyone to her friends back home. Liz was willowy and graceful, and looked like she should be a dancer like Lily's friend Kate. Hilda was a tiny, talkative blond, but she reminded Lily of Jenna, who was very tall and talked very fast. Jenna and Kate were also best friends. Finally, if Celia's shyness and Blair's athleticism were combined, they would make Lily's friend Laurel. Lily missed her friends; she knew they were at school now, though they had no idea where Lily was. She couldn't tell them the truth, McGonagall had been very firm about that the day she came to explain everything to Lily's parents. They only knew that she had changed schools and was attending a boarding school for talented children in Scotland. They had all wondered what her talent was. She had only smiled and said that she hoped to find out soon.

Lily remembered that she was going to write a letter to Petunia, and went to her room after lunch to get a quill and paper. She left the others, telling them that she had some important letters to send and would be in the courtyard writing them. She hurried to the courtyard, hoping that Severus might be there, but there wasn't anyone else in the courtyard when she got there; most of the other first years were down by the lake looking for the Giant Squid and playing games in the grass. Lily settled down under a tree and started writing. It was hard to write to Petunia – every time she began to write about something exciting and magical that had happened, she thought better of it. Her sister would only be angry and jealous and would probably rip the letter to shreds if she knew how much fun Lily was having at Hogwarts. Lily put the letter aside with only a few sentences on it, and began writing to her parents instead. They would love to hear about everything, and Lily was scribbling away when she heard a twig snap. She looked up at the source of the noise and saw Severus standing a few feet away.

"Sev!" she said enthusiastically, "how'd you know I was here?"

He looked sheepish.

"I didn't, I just looked everywhere else I could think of." He sat down in front of her and frowned.

"What're you writing to _her _for?" he demanded, picking up Petunia's letter.

"She's my sister!" cried Lily, "I have to write to her or she'll think I don't like her!"

"Well, I _don't_ like her," muttered Severus, "and I wouldn't write her if she were my sister. Wouldn't let her tell me who I could be friends with," he trailed off and pulled up a patch of grass angrily.

"I _don't_ let her!" said Lily, "We're friends, aren't we?"

"Yeah," he admitted, but he stopped pulling up grass and looked at her accusingly.

Lily knew he was remembering the times, shortly after they first met and he told her she was a witch, when Petunia would drag her home every time she tried to talk to Severus, saying that mother wanted them or that they had to play inside. But Lily hadn't let Petunia push her around for a while now, and Severus needed to get over it. Lily knew her sister was mean to him, but it was only because she thought Lily liked him better. She wished again that her sister could have been magical too. It would have made life so much easier.

"Anyway," she said brightly, ignoring his gloomy mood, "I'm not writing to her right now, I'm writing to my parents. They're going to think Hogwarts is amazing! It's too bad they can't visit."

"Yeah," he said, still pulling up grass.

Lily hesitated, but decided to say what was on her mind.

"Are you going to write your mum?"

He pulled up another chunk of grass, this time with a clod of dirt, and chucked it over his shoulder.

"Dunno," he mumbled. Lily decided that was enough prying.

"Well, I think you should," she said firmly and rolled up her own letter.

"Oh!" she said, "how did your class do in Transfiguration today?"

Severus seemed glad for the change of subject. He looked up again.

"McGonagall gave two Ravenclaw girls points for turning a piece of grass into a needle," he sighed. "Mine was close, though," he looked proud, "it was all silver on one side."

"Really?" asked Lily, then felt her face fall, "mine didn't change at all."

"That's ok," he said quickly, "most people's didn't."

"I know," she said, "but I thought I was doing everything right!" She sighed loudly, "I can't believe James Potter was the only one to do it today!"

Severus started pulling at the grass again, only there wasn't much of it left.

"Only him?" he asked quietly.

"Er – yeah," she said, realizing who she was talking about and continued quickly, "but Cora Whitfield said her grass had a point at one end. Of course, she wouldn't let anyone but Harriet look at it, so we all think she was lying."

Severus snorted at that.

"You should've seen Crabbe," he said, "he just twisted his until it was pointed and told McGonagall it was a green needle."

Lily smiled and there was a comfortable silence. A breeze lifted Lily's hair and pulled it across her face. She tucked it neatly behind her ears again.

"Aren't you glad we don't have Potions today?" she asked after a while, "I'm _so _tired of hearing about Slughorn's famous students!"

"And Potter's parents," added Severus, "and Black's whole stupid family!"

"What are his cousins like?" asked Lily, anxious to change the subject again.

"I don't know," he said, "but everyone in Slytherin thinks they're wonderful," he smirked, "and that third year Roldolphus Lestrange fancies Bellatrix!"

"The seventh year girl?" asked Lily incredulously, "how do you know?"

"Everyone knows," he shrugged. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"His brother told them," Severus offered, "he's in my year."

Lily laughed.

"He sounds like a terrible brother!"

"He thinks he can tell me what to do," said Severus suddenly, "he thinks I'm going to follow him around like Avery."

Lily frowned.

"Well, don't," she said carefully, "but don't pick fights with him, Sev."

"What makes you think I'm going to pick fights?" he demanded.

"Nothing, it's just," Lily struggled, thinking of Petunia, "Sometimes you think people are worse than they really are."

Severus was scowling at the ground.

"You think I'm just making it up?" he said, "Is that what you think?"

"No," said Lily, wishing she hadn't said anything, "of course, not. I believe you."

They sat in silence again, and this time it was not so comfortable. He surprised her by being the first to speak.

"Did you hear that we're going to have flying lessons?" he asked, and then clarified, "I mean, on brooms? Remember how I told you about the brooms . . ."

"Yeah, I remember!" she said excitedly, "When do we get to fly?"

"Next week," he said, thinking, "That's the first one."

"I can't wait!" she exclaimed, then gasped, "But I'll be so nervous! What if I fall off?"

"You won't," he said, "it can't be that hard!"

"Maybe it's like riding a bicyle," Lily said. Severus shrugged.

"Maybe."

Lily had forgotten that Severus didn't have a bicycle.


	6. Chapter 5: The Flying Lesson

**Chapter Five – The Flying Lesson**

Another week passed and Thursday evening Severus sat in the Slytherin common room next to Rastaban and Crabbe. It seemed like the entire house was crammed into the common room, laughing, shouting, and making bets on the duel between Bellatrix and Marcus Bulstrode. Bellatrix was standing in one corner with her sister Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy. Her hands were on her hips and her eyes glinted as she surveyed the room. In another corner, Marcus Bulstrode and Victor Flint laughed loudly. Flint slapped Marcus on the back and nodded. The older boy squared his shoulders and raised his wand. A loud bang issued from it and everyone stopped talking at once.

"That's better," he said, grinning, "pay attention first years, you're about to see Bellatrix Black lose a duel."

Bellatrix barked out a laugh.

"Are you sure about that, Bulstrode?" her eyes flicked over the full room. "Watch now," she said to them lazily, "and I'll explain later." With that, she raised her wand and sent a jet of blue light at Marcus. He narrowly avoided it; the sleeve of his robe was singed when it flew by. By then, he had already retaliated with his own hex. Bellatrix smirked as she blocked it. The duel continued in this manner for a while, before Marcus managed to hit Bellatrix with a spell that caused a row of tiny red dots to appear on her cheek. She hissed at him and slashed her wand through the air. He staggered backward and his skin broke out in crusty green patches. One more flick of her wand, and Bellatrix had disarmed him. She picked up his wand and swaggered toward him. She pointed her wand in his face and held it there for a moment before making the green patches disappear and handing him his wand. Marcus took it angrily. Bellatrix turned to them and touched her cheek, looking mildly at the pinpricks of blood on her fingers.

"Perforating Hex?" she asked, "That's almost a curse, Bulstrode." She looked at her audience again. "And that's almost against the rules . . . a good strategy," She smiled gloatingly, "but not good enough."

"Your Secretious Hex was brilliant!" said a voice. It was Roldolphus. He sounded like he was proud of himself for recognizing the spell. Bellatrix laughed and tossed her head.

"Of course it was, Lestrange, but it's better to use on girls, especially if there's a mirror nearby."

She taught them the spell and its counter, and then everyone broke into conversation again. Some people tried out the Secetious Hex on one another and looked at their reflections in the mirror with exclamations of disgust. Severus watched Rastaban hex Crabbe, who spent five minutes examining his hideous face in the mirror before Rastaban said the counter.

"_I_ was getting sick looking at you," he said, grimacing.

That night Severus dreamt that a massive crusty green snake chased him through the castle and down to the lake, where he found a broom lying on the ground. He grabbed it and jumped on, instinctively kicking off the ground and soaring above the lake. The snake slid into the water and attacked the Giant Squid. Severus watched the churning water below as the wind whipped his hair and the tree tops swayed under his feet.

* * *

Lily winced when Eliza gave her hair another forceful tug.

"Ow! I'm not going to have any hair left if-"

"Almost done!" said Liz in a singsong voice. She had persuaded Lily to let her fix her hair. Normally, Lily liked her friends to play with her hair, but she regretted saying yes to Liz. She must have lost handfuls of hair to her new friend's pale pink hairbrush. Lily gritted her teeth when another hair was ripped out.

"OUCH!"

"Done!" Liz exclaimed, "go look!"

Lily jumped up and put as much distance between her head and the hairbrush as possible. She turned to look in the mirror. Liz had started two braids high on Lily's head, which now rested on her shoulders. It was very neat, and Lily had to admit, done well, although it was so tight that her eyes looked more almond-shaped than usual. Lily turned her head back and forth and decided that she looked a bit like an elf.

"It looks great," she said, "but I don't think it was worth the pain."

Liz folded her arms, "You're just too sensitive," she said, "you're lucky you didn't have my mother!"

_I bet she had to be rough to tame your hair, _thought Lily. Liz's wild ringlets were tucked behind her ears for the moment, but in a few seconds they would spring into her face again. It was Friday morning and they were getting ready to go down to breakfast. Liz had insisted on fixing Lily's hair. Lily suspected that Liz wanted her to return the favor, but she was too hungry to offer today.

"Oh, how cute!" said Hilda from across the room, "you look adorable, Lily! I just love your red hair!"

Liz frowned, "I just hope it doesn't all fall down during our flying lesson."

Lily patted her head, feeling a twinge in a tender spot.

"I don't think it's going anywhere," she said, "now, let's go, or we won't have time to eat!"

The girls ate breakfast quickly and made it to class with a few minutes to spare. Lily found it hard to concentrate today. In charms, Flitwick lectured on and on, then assigned an essay. McGonagall did the same. Lily had read ahead in the textbook and was bored. Her notes trailed off halfway through the lesson and became doodles. Her stomach grumbled. She stared at the back of Peter Pettigrew's head and traced mindless circles on her parchment. What would flying be like? Lily had always wished she could fly, although she had never imagined it would be on a broom.

The day passed slowly, but finally it was time for the flying lesson. Harriet and Cora complained that they did not want to waste their free afternoon on a broomstick. Nobody else agreed with them. The boys were already bragging, or at least James and Sirius were. Peter's head was bobbing back and forth between them and Remus Lupin looked alternately impressed and nervous.

When they got to the pitch there were brooms laying in neat rows on the ground. The other first years stood in groups talking and two Ravenclaw girls laughed loudly when Lily passed. She saw Severus standing a few feet away from his housemates, staring at the ground.

"Gryffindors this way!" called Madame Hooch.

"Too bad I couldn't bring mybroom," said James, "look at _this_ one!" he kicked a nearby broom with disdain.

"Don't kick that broom," said Sirius suddenly, "Madame Hooch is watching!"

James immediately stopped and looked toward the Quidditch coach. Her back was turned. Sirius laughed and James gave the broom another defiant kick.

When Gryffindor had gathered in front of Madame Hooch, she made them line up and pointed at each of them in turn, numbering them 1 through 3. Lily's muggle teachers had often done this at school, but not in quite the same way. Madame Hooch pointed at each of them and with a twitch of her wand made a large white number appear on the front of their robes. When she had done this for each house, she strode to the middle of the field.

"All number ones come up and stand by a broom!" she barked. Liz, Harriet, James, and Peter joined students from each house by the brooms. Lily listened carefully as Madame Hooch explained how to mount the broom and kick off the ground. She told them to rise slowly no more than ten feet and come back down.

Only a few people were successful on the first try. Some of the brooms refused to obey when called up. Liz lurched upward a few feet on hers and came down quickly. Harriet was still holding out her hand and trying to coax her broom off the ground. James was standing with one arm out as well, but he was watching Madame Hooch. The minute she turned away he nodded at Sirius and then in one motion mounted the broom and soared up above the treetops, made a loop, and came down. He landed lightly just as Madame Hooch turned back around.

"Well," she asked, "have you tried it yet? Let's see."

James smiled and hopped back on the broom. He rose slowly above the instructor's head and back down again.

"Good," she said and moved on. James was grinning impishly and bowed at two Ravenclaw girls who were applauding and giggling.

When she was satisfied with everyone's efforts, Madame Hooch sent the first group back and called the twos. This time, Sirius, Lily, Celia, and Hilda went to stand by the brooms. Lily was relieved when her broom obediently flew into her hand on the second try. She took a breath and mounted it. She managed to get up and down a few times with no problem and thankfully Madame Hooch kept a close watch on them that Sirius couldn't do anything to best James. They left the brooms on the ground and returned to their housemates. Lily breathed a sigh of relief. Now she was only anxious for Severus. She knew he would be nervous, especially since the boys in his house had been bragging about their brooms since school started and Severus had never even touched one.

She saw him slouch toward a broom. _Oh no_, she thought, _wasn't he watching when Harriet tried that one? She couldn't get off the ground! _

Madame Hooch blew her whistle, and everyone immediately threw out their hands. To Lily's surprise, Severus' broom jumped up into his hand at once, knocking him off balance. Maybe it wasn't the bad broom after all. She smiled in his direction, although he was too far away to see her and appeared to be concentrating very hard. _He would do it on the first try, _thought Lily, _he always has to be the best. I bet he saw that it took me two tries. _Lily watched him to see how high he would dare to rise off the ground. Soon, all her playful competitiveness vanished. Severus was attempting to rise, but his broom was bucking violently in protest. The girl next to him started laughing and soon everyone else started to notice. Severus had stopped his efforts and stood still, blushing. Madame Hooch came over and silenced the others with a scowl. She took the broom from him and handed him another. Severus did not look inclined to try again, but she made him and watched as he quickly rose up and came down heavily, still blushing because everyone was watching. Lily felt sorry for him. It was really unlucky that he had chosen that broom. She wished it had been James Potter, because he could have used the humiliation. When she told Severus so later, he smiled briefly.

"You really don't like him," he said, looking pleased.

"No," she said crossly, "he's-" she searched for a good word, "he's an arrogant toerag!" she said, "and I can't stand that Sirius Black either! You're lucky you don't have to eat with them," she said, remembering dinner the night before, "they're loud and they throw food at each other all the time," she crossed her arms, "last night they kept tossing peas at everyone and saying they 'missed'. Oh, and they're always making stupid jokes to show off how great they think they are. I can't believe everyone likes them so much," she tossed her hair over her shoulder and glanced at Severus. He was staring at her as if she had grown a second head.

"What?" she asked smiling.

"Nothing," he said quickly, then smiled slightly, "sometimes it's funny when you get mad."

Flying lessons continued every other week. Lily and Severus improved, though Lily thought that she was better. She decided not to tell Severus so. They tried to make sure they were always the same number so they could fly together. Apparently it didn't go unnoticed, because one week when she was walking out to the pitch James called out her name.

"Hey, Evans!" He waited for her to turn around, "Evans!" Finally, she glared at him over her shoulder. He grinned at her and said, "Are you going to show off for Snivellus again? You'd better stop - I think he's starting to get jealous of your talent."

"I think _you're_ starting to get jealous," she retorted, though she knew it wasn't true. Irritatingly enough, James Potter was as good a flyer as he thought he was - which was really good. There were rumors that he'd secretly been offered a spot on the Gryffindor Quidditch team the following year.

Lily ignored him the rest of the way to the field, but it was hard when he was talking so loudly right behind her.

Lily and Severus were both 'threes'. They finally took their positions beside one another and waited for Madame Hooch to blow her whistle. Today they were supposed to be racing down to a large walnut tree and back. Lily got a head start on Severus, but he still wasn't far behind her. Lily didn't expect to win the race, but she flew her fastest anyway and wished she were brave enough to throw her hands and the air as it rushed by. Maybe she would try it next time. She breezed toward the tree and noticed Sirius and James standing underneath.

"Hey, Evans – catch!" yelled James and lobbed a walnut at her. It fell short, only coming a foot below her broom before descending back to the earth.

"Nice try, Potter," she called back smugly.

"Peter!" she heard James yell again, and then he and Sirius chorused, "Awww!"

"Hey, I wasn't ready," said Peter in an unsteady voice which indicated that he had attempted to catch the walnut.

Lily was shaking her head when she heard the boys cry out in unison again.

"Snivellus!"

She slowed and turned to see two walnuts fly at her friend. One flew past him, but the other hit him square in the chest. He had brought one arm up in an attempt to shield himself and now he swerved toward the tree, ran into a branch, fell halfway off his broom, and crashed to the ground. She could see that his face was red with embarrassment and anger, but he just jumped back on the broom and took off again. She waited a moment for him to catch up, but he only flew past her, going remarkably faster than usual. She stared at his back while Bernice Moats passed her. Lily finished the race dead last, but she didn't care. Severus refused to look at her and started to walk back to his side of the field without a word.

"HEY!" she yelled at his back, "Are you ok?"

He didn't turn around - he just shrugged his shoulders and kept walking with clenched fists.


End file.
